We need a visionary for our rivers

Mass fish deaths in the Darling River are an urgent wake-up call

The commissioning of inquiries into the reasons for fish dying in the Darling River is a waste of time and money. It is obvious there is not enough water flowing into the river, partly because of drought and partly due to squandered water in times of plenty using outdated and wasteful irrigation methods.

We know these droughts are going to occur and we should prepare for them. There is a huge water supply in the Ord River in Western Australia, much of which flows back into the sea. A dual pipeline, one for water, one for gas, could be brought down to the Murray-Darling system to help flows and provide energy to inland centres. Another alternative could be a pipeline or diversion from our flooding northern coastal rivers to feed into the inland system.

Could our politicians show some vision for the future of Australia instead of fiddling at the edges with little projects to feed the masses in the cities? One hundred years ago a visionary (C.Y. O’Connor) set in motion the pumping of water 530km uphill from Perth to Kalgoorlie to open up the wealth of the goldfields. Open up the centre of Australia and we could easily accommodate those wishing to come to live in our wonderful country.

Noelle Brinsden, Epping, NSW

The excuse “it’s the drought” for the fish kills in our river system demonstrates a lack of knowledge about Australian rivers. They are the pulse of our environment, they surge with floodwater and shrink to billabongs when the water subsides. Flooding cleanses rivers by mixing natural nutrients and fish populations. The algal outbreaks are akin to cholesterol in our arteries.

Sucking water out of the river system during flood reduces its cleansing effect. Sydney Harbour-size storage ponds in the cotton-growing areas of NSW are killing our rivers and fish populations.

W. Brown, Queanbeyan, NSW

Recent losses of fish in the Darling River could have been averted with stored monsoonal water, which falls during the first three months of the year and mainly runs off to sea. Relatively pure monsoonal water, if stored and moved south correctly, could provide years of backup drinking water, irrigation, pumped hydro, fire protection and solar hydrogen.

It is good to see the Government is looking at storing monsoonal water in the high-walled Hells Gate dam on the upper Burdekin River in northeast Queensland. This could be the start of future water storage across the Top End to expand and deliver this vital resource for human life.

T. Bowring, Bilgola Plateau, NSW

Dodging truth on power

As Judith Sloan correctly highlights (“Breezily dismissive response to power cuts isn’t cool”, 29/1) the attitude adopted by Victoria’s Energy Minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, and Greens leader Richard Di Natale has reinforced perceptions that these politicians are out of touch. It beggars belief that these are the people the public looks to for responsible decisions — not unrealistic platitudes that go down well with their support bases.

Hugh Francis, Portland, Vic

Tougher mortgages

Adam Creighton’s interesting article “Big four banks just creating piles of money” (29/1) touched on one of the fundamental issues to do with changes in bank lending philosophy. When I went after a mortgage in the early 1970s there was a very prescriptive set of rules. Repayments could not exceed 25 per cent of my monthly take-home pay. My wife’s salary and any overtime were not included in this monthly amount and there was no such thing as a “draw down”. What this effectively did was tie all mortgages to monthly salaries. If these rules had stayed in place house prices could only rise at the same rate as salaries. Sadly, it’s impossible to put the lending genie back into the bottle.

Vaughan Patrick, Floreat, WA